


Soul Mark

by girlygamer_x



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Lemon, Love Confessions, One Shot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 05:18:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlygamer_x/pseuds/girlygamer_x
Summary: Ever since the world went to shit, there was no time for hearts and flowers ... AND definitely no time for soul mates. Since the chances of finding your soul mate in the apocalypse was next to nothing, everyone kept their soul marks covered. That was until, one fateful night, everything for you changed ... and it all involved a boy in a Sheriff's hat.





	Soul Mark

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, a completely random one shot! - I love the idea of soul marks and the concept of soul mates in a zombie apocalypse seems all the more interesting ... after the latest ep of TWD, I figured we all needed some Carl Grimes fluff in our life! Enjoy!
> 
> (also apologies for any spelling mistakes or general errors, I have legit just typed this and pressed post!)

It had been two years since you had been with Rick and the group. They had found you, near death, in the woods and were kind enough to take you in; you think it was something to do with being Carl’s age, and no matter how shitty the world got, you never leave a kid to die.

Ever since then, life had been as good as it could be, given the situation. Since the world went to shit, finding nice genuine people had been few and far between. Especially the chances of finding your soulmate.

For as long as humanity could remember, humans were born with a unique soul mark somewhere on their body, that matched with another person. This person was identified as your soul mate, the one you were truly destined to be with. Many people would spend their whole lives in search of their other half; some would disregard it completely, and get into relationships anyway, only to abandon those when they discovered their own soulmate.

The chances of ever finding your soulmate now that the world had turned upside down was near impossible, as most people simply covered their soul mark up, which is what you did too. You spent many nights alone, staring down at the simple inscription on your left forearm; in cursive, black writing, it read  _"you'll keep me safe?"_ , as well as half of a heart. The very notion of this often left you in tears, as you hadn't had anyone to keep you truly safe in a long time.

* * *

 

Night was falling on Alexandria once more, as everyone was settling down for the night. You normally took the opportunity to scale the walls and head over the top, just to get away for a little while. Once it was relatively dark, you made your way over to where you hid your prepacked back pack; it had everything you would need for a couple hours.

“You heading back in a minute, kiddo?” Maggie called, as she walked past by you with Glenn. The couple had been one of the very lucky few to have actually found their soul mate in the apocalypse, everyone extremely envious of the pair.  
“Yeah, I’m going to grab a snack from the pantry.” you replied, lying with a smile.  
“Okay then, just make sure Denise doesn’t catch ya!”

You quickly jogged away from the pair and from any other watchful eyes, quickly grabbing your bag from its hiding place and climbing the wall. Having made the ascent many times before, you had become somewhat of a pro by now so the speed in which you were able to disappear was stellar. Landing with a thud on the other side of the wall, you followed your usual path, which was 20 minutes at your usual pace. You had devised a quiet, little reading area for yourself, as it was perfect to sit and watch the night go by.

* * *

 

As you walked, something felt off, like someone was watching you, even though you had convinced yourself it was impossible as you  _always_ made sure that no one followed you. Continually checking behind you to see exactly no one, you realised that it was just your mind was playing tricks on you, and carried on walking. The unwanted distraction meant that you forgot to look where you were going; moonlight wasn’t as strong as a flashlight, and flashlights drew the attention of walkers. Suddenly, you fell forward, tripping over a log with a heavy thud.

A pain ran across your ankle as you seethed, trying to examine it in the darkness. Feeling softly, you pulled your hand back as you felt it was wet. _Blood._  
“Fuck.” you hissed, trying to pull yourself to your feet. You whimpered as the pain intensified, causing you to fall to your feet again. Trying to find something in your bag to tie your ankle up with, a  growling sound caused your stomach to drop.

_Walkers._

Fuck. The abnormal amount of noise from a usually silent area must have drawn the attention of a few. You quickly scrambled for your bag, digging for your gun. Pulling it out, you soon realised that you were out of ammo.

“Shit, shit, shit.” you whispered, frantically searching for your knife. Once you had the blade in grasp, you backed up against a tree, on the defence. The noise was getting louder, as you anticipated walkers to appear at any moment.

As if on cue, a few stray ones staggered out of the darkness and in your direction, the smell of rotting flesh overpowering. Shaking,  you put your knife up, as one brushed past your foot. It made quick note of you, ready to bite but you plunged your knife into its head and pushed it to the side. The noise of this walker however had alerted the others and they all seemed to rush towards you with increased pace.

“ _Shit!_ ” you exclaimed as you struggled to fight the remaining four off. A knife swiftly ended two of them; in an apocalyptic world, quick walker kills meant survival and you had gotten pretty good at it, however the last two were not giving up. Pulling one of the walkers legs out from beneath them brought it to the floor, making it easier to end it.

The last walker took you by surprise and had a hold of your shoulder, its jaw and teeth snapping at you. It ripped at your shirt, dribbling all over you as you tried with all of your strength to push it off you. Its teeth got closer to your neck and you just knew you were finished.

All of a sudden, a knife plunged through the walkers head, silencing its attack. Shaking with shock, you stopped to see Carl stood above you, bloodied knife in hand. Your knight in shining armour. He rushed towards you as you put your arms out to him, pulling him in tightly for a hug.

“Y/n. What the fuck were you thinking?” he whispered into your ear, his breath hot.  
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry” you replied, shuddering, before pulling away. Carl grabbed your face with his hands, looking directly at you.  
“Don’t ever try and do that again, okay?” he said. You nodded somewhat half-heartedly, as he sat down beside you.

* * *

“I knew someone was following me.” you stated, looking at the dead walkers around you, a silence now falling back onto the area.  
“I’m not stupid. I knew you were coming over the walls. I just wanted to see where you went, that’s all.” he replied, a little sheepishly. You didn’t say anything for a moment.

“I just wanted to go to a place that isn’t Alexandria. To just have some me time, you know? ... everything is just so shitty.” you mumbled. You noted Carl nodding in your peripheral vision.  He understood you better than anyone.  
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” he replied, flashing you his famous smile before getting to his feet. He always did manage to make you swoon; Grimes men seemed to have that affect on people.

“Erm Carl ... I kinda hurt my ankle a bit so can you help me?” you asked, smiling softly at him.  
“Of course. I saw you fall on your ass so it's only right that I help” he replied with a laugh, putting his hand out. You jokingly frowned at him before you stretched your left arm out and took his hand, noticing his eyes looking down and going extremely wide.

“Carl?” you asked, before following his gaze.

_Shit, your soul mark._

The walker that had ripped your shirt meant that the letters were now exposed. Scrambling quickly for something to cover it, Carl grabbed your arm.  
“Carl, don’t. I don’t wanna share it.” you pleaded, trying to pull your arm back. You stilled as he ran his thumb over the words, analysing them, a slight furrow to his brow.  
“Carl.” you whispered, your face bright red.

Soul marks were something so painful, something no one really wanted to share; and you were not exception. Watching Carl as he still said nothing, he let go of your arm, rolling up the sleeve on his right one.

Heart pounding, everything seemed to slow and the world seemed to stop as Carl stilled to reveal a similar cursive font that your soul mark had. Gently, he placed his forearm against your own, electricity shocking through your body as his skin made contact, his half of a heart matching yours.

“ _You’ll keep me safe?_ ” you whispered, barely audible.  
“ _Until the very end_.” he replied back, reciting his own words on his arm.

Neither of you said anything as you slowly looked up at him, his eyes staring back into yours.  
“I can’t believe after all this time, you were here all along.” he mumbled. You smiled at him, as it was like your whole world seemed brighter.  
Before you knew it, Carl was pulling you into him and your lips were colliding; it was like fireworks were being let off inside of you as the sensation made it feel like you were floating, up away from it all and into heaven.

Many had described a tingling, shocking sensation when you place soul marks together, even more so when soul mates kiss but this was like nothing they had described. It didn't even feel real. When you and Carl eventually pulled away, he pressed his forehead to yours, smiling from ear to ear, as were you.

* * *

 

“Hi, soul mate.” you murmured, giggling slightly.  
“Hi to you too, soul mate.” he replied.  
"This is crazy."  
"Y/n, I just want you to know, that ever since we met, all I ever wanted to do was to keep you safe.  It was like this weird sensation inside of me that constantly pulled me to you, that I tried to ignore, but I know now what it was all along. This, what we have here, is destiny."  
You looked at Carl, your eyes full of love as he spoke.  
"I feel like such an idiot for covering it up. Imagine if I hadn't how much sooner we ..."  
"Hey, don't feel bad. It was _meant_ to happen like this, I just know it. I just can't believe that this whole time, you were right in front of me. My crush wasn't totally pointless after all.” he chuckled, making you blush.

You intertwined your hands in his, feeling like you’d never be able to stop smiling, For once, everything was right in the world.  
“We better head back. My ankle is killing me.” you said, laughing a little.   
Suddenly, Carl scooped you into his arms and off the floor, making you squeal, before covering your mouth, not wanting to attract more walkers.  
“Come on soul mate, let’s head back before my Dad has a heart attack when he sees that we're missing. He’s not gonna believe this.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed - let me know if you would want a part 2 to it, like Rick and the group's reaction and possibly more development?
> 
> (Also, I'm implying the notion that you don't know if someone is your soul mate until you line up your marks - so even tho y/n and Carl have been friends the whole time, you don't know until that occurs - hope that doesn't confuse anyone!)
> 
> Xxx


End file.
